Reach
by Andra-ggfan
Summary: Set in season 2, Back in the saddle again episode. What would have happened if Dean had seen Rory instead of Lorelai at the end of that episode?Literati. ON HIATUS
1. Reach

**A/N: Yup, I've started another story. I hope you like it. Tell me if you think I should continue or just erase this thing forever. A big, big thanks to Cat(****Just A Girl Of The Hollow x3) for the BETA and for convincing me to actually post the story.**** Anyway, I'll stop babbling now and let you read.**

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It had been another pretty much uneventful Friday night dinner, except for the occasional remark thrown between Emily and Lorelai and now the girls had just arrived back in town, music playing softly in the car. 

"So…do you want to stop by _Luke's _and get some coffee, maybe a burger?"

"You've just eaten at least ten rolls, how could you possibly want anything else?"

"I am amazing like that. And I didn't exactly eat ten rolls…more like seven or eight."

"Yes, that's so much better. I think I'll just go home, I'm pretty tired."

"As you wish."

"Get me some coffee when you come back, ok?"

"Sure."

Lorelai stops the car and Rory gets out, waving a small goodbye.

"I'll see you in a little while."

"Okay. Have fun tormenting Luke. And don't forget my coffee."

"Oh, that's always entertaining. Bye, kid."

"Bye."

Rory walks home from the diner, thinking about her…problems. Sure she was with Dean, but lately it seemed like the only thing on her mind was Jess. Lately being the last few months. In fact, if she hadn't known that he wasn't working tonight she would have probably gone to the diner with her mother just to see him. And Dean…he didn't deserve being treated like this. He deserved someone better then her, someone who would love him the way he needed, and who would like the fact that he called fifty freakin' times a day, or always paged her, or appeared by her side anytime she was anywhere outside her house or school…_"Stop! Stop thinking like this! You love Dean and he's only doing this because he cares about you and loves you! It's not like Jess cares…it's only a game to him."_

A dark figure approaches her and she doesn't need more then a quick glance to know who it is…the unmistakable walk, the hands shoved deep in his pockets, the scent that she can recognize anytime…It strikes her that she can't remember any of those things about Dean…In fact if anyone would ask her to describe him she'd probably just say _'he's tall'_ and change the subject. She doesn't know the way he walks, or how he smells or the look he gets when he is trying to focus on a book in the middle of the insanity of the diner…but then again it's not like Dean would ever be interested in reading anything except the latest Sports Illustrated.

"Hey," the voice greets her, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Hi."

"Going home?"

"Yup."

He takes his hands out of his pockets and lights a cigarette, breathing in the smoke.

"So…where's your mom?"

"Bugging Luke."

"And why aren't you with her?"

"We just came from dinner…and I felt like being alone for a while."

"Do you want me to leave?"

_Never! _"Nope…it's okay. I'll have at least half an hour of alone time after I get home."

"Okay."

They walk slowly, neither one of them saying anything. He takes slow, lazy drags out of his cigarette, looking at the burning tip and the smoke rising slowly from it. She moves closer to him, almost unconsciously…

Reach…she could just reach and touch him…a slight movement of her hand and her fingers would wrap around his… Reach…she could just raise her hand and feel his skin…would it be anything like she had imagined it would?... Reach…she could just move a little closer and her lips would be touching his…Reach…

She turns around and smiles at him while he says something about a book…trying to register his words but him, so close, distracts her…it hurts her not having the courage to reach for him…Her eyes fall down and focus on his left hand again and she imagines how it would be like to have his fingers play with strands of her hair, caress her face, draw the lines of her bod… _Oh, crap! Where did that come from?_

"Boo!"

She looks up at him, startled by his voice. _Jeez! Does he have a dirty thoughts detector?_

"What?"

"Nothing…you just seemed out of it."

"Just tired…long night at the other Gilmore house."

"Huh…I guess I'll just leave you alone then."

She tried to protest but her eyes fell on his lips again and all coherent thoughts fly out the window.

"I'll see you tomorrow for lunch."

"What…oh, yeah."

"Goodnight, Rory." He waves and walks away backwards, still facing her, his lips curved in a small smile.

"Bye, Jess." She looks at him as he turns around and heads in the direction of the bridge, following him with her eyes until she can no longer see him, then starts walking again towards her house. Five minutes later she arrives there and sees the tall figure crouched on the porch steps, his eyes wondering in her direction. He stands and walks closer to her, shoulders dropped down in defeat.

"You like Jess, don't you?"

She squirms under his sight, not knowing what to say. When he finally looks up at him she meets his eyes, almost begging her to say _'no'_. His whole body is reaching out to her, his hands inching closer to her body.

She takes a small step back and wraps her arms around herself.

"Answer me, Rory."

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**Another a/n: dun-dun-dun What will Rory say? One way to find out…review :). Please. **


	2. I think I like him

Chapter 2- **I think I like him**

"_Answer me, Rory!"_

She looks down at her feet, trying to arrange the words in her mind, to form a coherent sentence and not hurt him, yelling the truth about what she was feeling.

"Do you like him?"

"I…" She stutters and then looks back at her feet, hugging her arms around herself even tighter. Great…she definitely didn't work well under pressure.

"Yes or no, Rory! It's not that hard!"

"Don't do this, Dean!"

"Don't do what? I'm just trying to get a straight answer from my girlfriend who supposedly loves me but spends all her free time with some other guy instead of me." The defeated look disappears from his eyes, leaving only anger behind.

"That's not true and you know it."

"I don't know anything anymore…I just want an answer. Do you like him?"

"Yes." Her voice is barely above a whisper now…

"Then I guess this is goodbye for us…" His shoulders slump down again, eyes falling to his feet.

"I never meant to hurt you, Dean." She touches his arm lightly, looking up at him. "Believe that, please." Tears sting the back of her eyes and she bites her lip, trying to hold them back

He looks at her one last time before slowly walking away, head held down and she watches him silhouette disappear out of her sight and, probably, out of her life as well. She turns around and opens the front door and moves to the living room, not bothering to turn on the light. She sits on the couch and stares at the pictures on the mantelpiece, the tears now falling freely down her cheeks.

Almost an hour later, the front door opens and her mother's voice rings in the foyer.

"Rory, you home? Why is it so dark in here?" She walks in the living room and sees the tired looking figure of her daughter, cuddled up on the couch, holding her knees. She sits down next to her and wraps an arm around her. "Rory, baby, what happened?"

She pulls her knees closer and moves in her mother's arms, not saying a word.

"Honey, you're starting to scare me. What happened?"

"I broke up with Dean."

"I'm so sorry, kid…what happened?" She kisses the top of her head, rubbing her arm sympathetically.

"Jess."

"Did that punk do something? 'Cause I swear I'll hurt him if he did."

"Nope…he didn't do anything. Can we just talk about this tomorrow? My head hurts and I don't feel like reliving tonight."

"Sure…ice-cream?"

"I think I'll just go to bed…"

"Ok. But if you want to want to talk or eat junk or just crawl in bed with me, or whatever else you might need, you come, no matter what time, ok?"

"Uh-huh."

She untangles herself from her mother's arms and gets off the couch, walking slowly to her room. She gets there and crawls under the covers, not bothering to change or take off her shoes and closes her eyes, waiting in vain for sleep to come.

The next morning she gets out of bed, after a few hours of restless sleep and walks to the kitchen, picking up a cup from the counter and filling it with coffee. She sits in one of the chairs and takes a sip of the strong liquid and looks thru a magazine that's been sitting on the table when her mother walks in and sits across from her.

"'Morning, kid."

"Morning."

"Feeling better?"

"Not really."

"You want to tell me what happened now or it's still too soon?"

"I came home and he was waiting for me on the steps. He asked me if I liked Jess, I said yes and we broke up."

"Wow…"

"Yeah."

"So…you like Jess."

"I…think I do."

"I think it's more then a you think you do if you broke up with Dean because of it. So…are you going to…?"

"Going to what?"

"Start dating Jess now?"

"I haven't thought about it."

"Really?"

"No. I have thought about it…a lot. But I don't even know if he likes me."

"Oh, please…you're not seriously doubting that. He spent 90 dollars on your basket!"

"So what? He only did that to annoy Dean."

"Geez, you really need to get smacked over the head with the obvious stick."

"Mom!"

"What? It's true! Everybody knows that he likes you…or at least everybody except Kirk. He couldn't see a dinosaur if it came and sat on his lap."

"You think so?"

"That Kirk wouldn't see a dinosaur?"

"No…that Jess likes me."

"Ah, that…yeah, I think so."

She watches as a smile appears on Rory's face and smiles as well, playing with the cup in her hands. She only hoped that he wouldn't break her heart.

**A/N: Merry Christmas!**


End file.
